


Kid from Down Under

by Artsy



Series: Down Under to the Upside down [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80s, F/M, High School, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, mentions of physical abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artsy/pseuds/Artsy
Summary: Robyn and her family move to Hawkins from the infamously sunny country of Australia. Robyn is going to have to get used to the weirdness of Hawkins and its secrets...





	1. Mad Max 1, meet Mad Max 2

**Author's Note:**

> SO, I made an OC and I really think it'd be fun to explore the differences in American and Australian cultures in this fic, the different ways they communicate, act, and all that good stuff.
> 
> Please note there are mentions/hints of physical and verbal abuse in this chapter, also my OC is Australian and Billy is in this fic so please excuse the language (haha).

It was her first day in the new and foreign town of Hawkins, Indiana. It was backwards and upside-down here, the people, the weather, the seasons, the roads, car seats…everything! Even the date is written strange!

It was a weird first day, and she knew it was going to be an even weirder year to come. Her family of four had moved to America for some “Job Opportunity” her father mentioned, she didn’t see how this little town could offer better opportunities than that of their home back in Queensland, Australia. She wished she could talk to her father about it, but she knew it’d end _badly_ …

She already missed the buzz of the city and the beaches that seemed almost a walk away in any direction, here the only water she knew of was the quarry and she didn’t have any intentions of swimming in it…she’d heard that a boy’s body was found in it…and that the boy came back to life. She didn’t believe the folkloric tales of the small town, but she still decided that she wouldn’t be swimming in the quarry.

“Robyn,” her younger brother pried, tugging on her oversized denim sleeve.   
“Yeah, what’s the matter?” she asked, jolting back to reality, seems she was daydreaming,   
“Dad asked you a question…” His gaze fell to the floor as he turned his torso away from their father, as if he was trying to hide.   
A cold feeling crept through her chest as she turned to her father, “I..I’m sorry Da-Sir… I must have dozed off…” she realised she’d slipped up and was waiting for the thunder of her fathers voice to come bellowing through her ears, surprisingly though, it didn’t seem like he noticed… _Phew!_

“I said,” he began, saying those two words slow and loud, like she was deaf, “Ben and I are going to choose our rooms, can you go and grab some butter and bread, and anything else we might need.” He sounded those words out too, Robyn regretted having him repeat his words, he always did this, he spoke to her as if she was from a different country, like she didn’t understand his language…

“Oh…Sure! Is there anything in particular you want for dinner?” She was able to cover up the disappointment in her words very well. There was an almost instant response, “Spaghetti Bolognese” he barked, “Now, go before it gets dark!”

Robyn delivered a small nod before making her way to her car, she drove a black, BMW E23 745i, which she affectionately named “Piggy” or “Black Boar”, as the car appeared to have an upturned nose. It was one of the only truly good gifts her father had ever gotten her, she thanked him constantly for the car, but the rule was _‘If you break it, you fix it’_ so she had to teach herself a bit on cars after getting it.

“Come Max!” She chirped, basically falling into the driver’s seat, which was on the right side of the car, nearly instantly her blue furry friend jumped over her legs and into the passenger seat, excited for a trip, driving didn’t seem to get old for him. Once he was in, he let out an impatient bark.

“Yeah, yeah I’m getting there…” she said as she began fiddling with the gear stick. She closed the door with a thud and started the car, winding down the windows to let out a wave to her brother, Max stuck his head out of the window and enjoyed the breeze, his pointed hears stuck right to his head.

“You’ll like it here boy,” She said, “There are heaps of cattle and sheep here, you’ll have a job again!” The Blue dog’s tail began to wiggle at the mention of cattle, he is a cattle-dog after all. Max gave an approving bark as they drove down-town.

“Damn, I wish, at least _one time_ I could choose my own room…I hate getting last of the draw…” She mumbled to herself, every time they moved she never got to choose her room, her father would always get the master and her brother would make the first pick, and she’d get whatever was left…being honest, it was like that with more things other than rooms. Her father always wanted a son, when Ben was born, it was like her father didn’t have to pretend to give a shit about her anymore, which really cut her deep down when she was a kid, but its something she’s used to now.

She had no idea where she was going and kept getting confused about the roads as it was all opposite to Australia, she got quite a few odd stares when she drove past people as her driver’s side was different to theirs, she found the bewilderment amusing.

She got to a line of traffic, albeit a small one, she was thankful to finally see some shops. She tapped on her steering wheel as she listened to the radio, _‘Come on Eileen’_ was on, she had fond memories drinking to that song and singing it obnoxiously loud, she giggled at the memory and continued singing along, waiting for a green light.

She glanced over to her furry companion to see a red-headed girl talking to him in the car next to her, he seemed to be enjoying the attention as she repeatedly got wacked on the arm by his tail. She waved at the girl; it may have been hard for her to see the wave behind Max. Once the lights turned green, she headed towards what looked like the grocery store ‘Bradley’s Big Buys’ was its name, the alliteration made her cringe a little, but she laughed it off.

She parked the car and got out, she heard another car behind her wanting to get to the park next to hers so she quickly got out of the road, Max followed along eagerly…he could smell food.

“Sit,” She sighed, she pointed at a small post near the entrance to the store and told him to sit one more time, he did. “Good dog,” She said affectionately, patting his head, she quickly went to grab a trolley, it seems the red-headed girl from earlier and what seems to he her brother stopped at the store too, the girl cautiously patted Max as her brother walked on into the shops, Robyn heard him say something like “You shouldn’t touch other people’s dogs” or something along those lines. She pushed her trolley into the store and began searching for spaghetti ingredients.

After a while, plodding around the grocery store, she finally collected everything she needed, she’d paced up and down the same isles many times each, meticulously checking that she had everything her father wanted her to get. As she headed to the check-out, she saw the red-headed girl and her brother again seems they were still shopping around.

Robyn paid for her groceries and made her way to the bottle store only a few metres away, calling max to her heel. As she was walking, she could hear hushed voices a few metres behind her, it seems the girl was back, she was holding back her brother and looked like she wanted to ask something, it seemed her brother wanted to go.

“Hello,” The girl said sheepishly, obviously shy which was understandable.

“Hi!” Robyn said in a bubbly tone, “I did notice you seem to be interested in my dog.” She added with a slightly humorous tone, she didn’t want to seem creepy.   
“Yeah, I’ve heard of these dogs before, there is a club for them in California…” she replied, a smile began to settle on her face, “I’ve just never, _actually_ seen one before.” She added, patting Max’s head again.

“Well, You’ll probably see him around a lot, I try to take him everywhere I go, and when I’m gone he goes and does what he wants,” Robyn laughed after her statement, remembering when Max had met her at school at the end of the day when she and Ben were younger…worst part about it was that they lived a fair way away from the school…

“What’s his name?” The girl asked, her eyes were on Max for most of their conversation, this didn’t bother Robyn though, she acted similarly when working on farms as a kid, paying more attention to the working dogs than the farmer.

“His name is Max,” She replied, the heeler’s ears pricked as his name was said, “I named him Max after Mad Max,”

The girl looked shocked but amused. “ _My_ name is max…” She pointed at herself with a bewildered smile, she laughed a bit before patting Max on the head again.

“Really?! That’s the coolest thing!” Robyn exclaimed, laughing at the coincidence. She gestured a little toward the bottle store, indicating she needed to go in there, to which Max nodded and waved her hand telling her its okay to go. As Robyn walked in, she heard Max’s brother say that it was time for them to go.

“Can’t we just stay until she gets back?” She said in a hushed voice, Max (The dog) stayed with them as his owner walked into the store.

“Fine.” Her brother spat, taking one last drag of his cigarette before dropping it on the ground and crushing it with his leather boots. He nonchalantly gave the dog a scratch on the head as the two waited for Robyn to come back.

Robyn entered the bottle store and picked out a bottle of rum and a carton of beers, she also picked up some bottles of _Coca ‘cola,_ when she got to the desk to pay for her haul the keeper asked for her ID, which she handed out, the store owner looked at it, puzzled.

“You do realise this says you are 18,” he pried, giving her a heavy-lidded stare,   
“Yeah, I know” She said politely.

The two stared at each-other for a bit before Robyn realised what she’d done wrong. “Oh!” She exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth, “Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m from Australia…Drinking age is 18 over there!” She laughed at her mistake and began to put it all back.

“Its fine,” The keeper said, “I’ll let you buy it,” he shrugged, and it was obvious he was fine with it, something she didn’t expect by his more elderly stature and stern expressions. She turned back to him with a smile and brought out her father’s wallet, she handed him the amount needed and the haul was put in a brown paper bag and she carried the carton.

“Thankyou so much, have a great day,” Robyn finished, flashing the man a smile before walking out, a small “You too,” followed as she left.

She met up with Max and her brother again and had a quick good-bye before telling Max she needed to get back home, with that they went their separate ways back to their cars.


	2. Onions don't make me cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one really dips into domestic violence guys, if child abuse and misogynistic comments/beliefs trigger you, I suggest you give this one a miss or be mentally ready for it guysss.
> 
> A snippet of Robyn's home-life and family relations.

Before we start, I understand that I am currently sucking at descriptions character-wise atm (I'm waiting for a good time I'm sorry)  
But I have Mood boards on Pinterest if that interests you? I hope the links work heck.

[Robyn's Father](https://www.pinterest.com.au/latia_03102000/stranger-things-dad/) \- [Specific Face Claim](https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/412783122097827646/)

[Ben](https://www.pinterest.com.au/latia_03102000/ocs-bro/) \- [Specific Face Claim](https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/412783122097713197/)[  
](https://www.pinterest.com.au/latia_03102000/ocs-bro/)

[Robyn](https://www.pinterest.com.au/latia_03102000/stranger-things-oc/) \- [Specific Face Claim](https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/412783122097699078/)

[Here's What Max (The Dog) Looks like](https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/412783122097699079/)

(Also this one is long, sorry AH)

* * *

The simmer of oil in a pot was a common and relaxing sound to Robyn, it was like a relaxing white-noise, she breathed in deeply and reminisced the times she helped her mother cook spaghetti as a kid, a soft smile crept to her lips as she thought of it, gripping the locket around her neck instinctively.

Robyn prepared a knife and chopping board for the next step,

_‘ **Now be careful Robyn, Onions make you cry, they’re mean like that…’**_

Over time her eyes must’ve gotten used to cutting onions, because they haven’t made her cry for a long time, except for those certain onions that just seem more _persistent_ than others, the ones that creep into your eyes and _stab_ them.

She thought of that girl, _Max_ , she seemed nice, Robyn hoped her brother would meet her when they go to school tomorrow. She didn't hear much from her brother, well, she assumed they were brother and sister... Her brother's mullet reminded her of every second guy in Australia, she laughed, remembering she gave her cousin a mullet, albeit a real bad one, at a party when the two were drinking a year ago, she outwardly laughed when she remembered how quickly he shaved his head when he sobered up. She wasn't going to lie, the mullet looked good on Max's brother.

She was worried about tomorrow, but not for herself, Ben had always been cast out from most circles in school, he wasn’t gruff, and he most certainly wasn’t athletic, she chuckled as she tried to think what he _actually_ has going for him; Bravery, Kindness, Smarts, heart of gold, these came to mind, but sadly, all these things weren’t appreciated by most people, especially young teenagers. Robyn really hoped, for Ben’s sake, that school in America wasn’t like how it was represented on T.V.

She remembered seeing that blue Camaro come down the same street that she did on her way back, she wasn’t a creep, so she didn’t keep tabs on where they parked, but she was sure that Max and her brother lived on the same street.

The sharp sizzle of the mince hitting the hot pan pulled her out of her rumination, the smell of cooked onion filled the kitchen. She looked around it while the mince was sizzling, it was a quaint kitchen, it was walled off from the dining room which she enjoyed, she _finally_ had some privacy while cooking, performing with judging eyes that stick to her at every turn began to really take hold, even the smallest things like missing the bin or not wiping your feet were noticed here.

“Rob! Pour me a drink!” a voice bellowed from the living room, it was a gravelly voice, many girls in her school stated her father’s voice was nice to hear, she thought it was the most frightening sound in the world; Robyn nearly dropped the spatula as she tensed. She quickly put the spatula down and went to the fridge to get the coke. Ben could hear her shoes scuffing around frantically from the dinner table.

“Yes, Sir!” She continued to stumble around the kitchen, she’d forgotten where she put the rum…

“Hurry the Fuck up girl!” He snapped, his tone turning taut, she heard the sound of something hitting the floor, luckily it didn’t sound like it smashed.

She found the rum and poured her father a drink, she usually poured them weak to give her a head-start to get things done, if he is drunk before all her chores are done, _she’s in for it._

She grabbed the glass and hastily made her way to her father’s brown leather recliner, he was in front of the T.V watching some kind of sports game, Robyn didn’t dare look at it, in-case she got distracted. She put the drink on the round mahogany coffee table beside him.

As she began to remove her hand, she felt a fierce grip strangle her wrist. She gasped loudly, she jumped and nearly knocked the drink over. She hesitantly looked up, a pair of piercing eyes dug into her, her father’s eyes were something she didn’t look at often, it was always hard for her to recall their colour. Dark blue…they were so full of anger they seemed black. A few strands of his greying-brown locks hung over his brow; the hair was more comforting to look at than his eyes.

“What took so _fucking long_?” He spat the words out with an animalistic growl in his throat, his grip tightened on her wrist, his eyes studying her, _anticipating_ …

“I’m sorry, Sir…” She said quietly, her voice became weak and uneasy, she lowered her gaze to the floor, she saw what was thrown, just a shoe, that’s all. _Thankfully_ , there’s no need to ‘clean-up’ a shoe. “I forgot where I put the rum when I was putting stuff away…” she gingerly looked up again, hoping his expression changed.

“Stupid woman,” He said lowly through clenched teeth, “Hurry up with dinner.” He added. She nodded and went to leave; she was stopped as she realised the grip around her wrist tightened. His eyes met her again, he looked like he was expecting something.

“Y-Yes, Sir,” She gingerly answered, with that his hand made its way to his drink, she sped back to the kitchen, as she did she spotted her brother quickly looking back down at his Maths study, as she passed, she knew he was listening in. As she walked past him her gaze lingered on him, 'Maybe he'll say something...'

No word. She turned and went back to spaghetti, she was glad it didn't burn during that ordeal. She sighed, she was unsure if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment, her brother didn't receive the same treatment she did, in fact he hardly even got yelled at. Ben was a boy, a boy is what her father wanted, he's called her 'Rob' for as long as she can remember. She wished Ben wouldn't hide from her in pity, she wished he'd confront her about it, maybe even speak to their father about it, Ben might have that kind of hold over their Dad...

The pasta bubbled and the water began jumping from the pot,

_' **When this happens, Robyn, you just put the lid on a tilt so the hot steam can escape, otherwise it will boil over and get messy...'**_

She moved the lid and watched the steam rise, she knew the pasta was almost done. she stirred the Bolognese just to keep the heat through it.

"Ay! Refill! _Quickly_ this time!" She jumped again, cold chills spreading through her arms and neck, she dropped everything again and went back to her father's recliner, he held the glass in the air. She took it softly, muttered a "yes, Sir," and went off to fill the glass. _He was in a sculling mood..._ When he is really mad at something he just drinks his drink in one gulp, this is hard for her, as he's just basically shotting the rum, she warily walked out to him and tapped on his chair,

"Would you like a bigger glass?" her voice is still quiet, trying to seem as 'un-threatening' as possible.

He turned to look at her, he gave her a once-over and nodded, "Can't hurt now, can it?" he stared at her and smiled as he said that, cocking his head slightly, it wasn't a pleasant smile, this was a threatening smile, his whole aura screamed danger, like he was a loose cannon. Robyn went back to the kitchen and filled a bigger glass, this way his drinking will be slower... _hopefully._

She quickly rummaged through the draws for a tall glass. Once found she filled the glass, putting ice in and heading back to her father, yet again. She placed the glass on the table and went to leave silently.

"Thankyou, _Darlin'_ ," he taunted, the intense, nearly unstable look in his eyes stayed ever-so present, his eyes watched her as she walked out of the living room.

"Ben! How's the maths practice going!?" She could still feel his eyes on her as he spoke to Ben, she knew he was waiting for her to jump, sadly she did, he got what he'd wanted...again, she heard him chuckle when it happened, she tried to stay cool as she continued into the kitchen.

"Its going okay, Dad," Ben said, it was almost a sigh, he didn't look up from his paper and his legs were swinging wildly under the table, she could hear the tapping of his shoes against the chair's legs loudly. Max was following Ben's feet under the table, his head darting in each-and-every direction, he seemed to growl a little when Ben's fidgeting got too fast for Max to follow.

The spaghetti was going well, she added some veggies and other herbs and the like to the Bolognese, stirring them in as she added them. The smell was _Devine,_ she loved spaghetti, it was a good meal that you could get full on. 

"Smells good Robyn!" Ben's voice cooed from the dinner table, the tapping had stopped now, and she could hear Max scurrying around on the wooden floor, "Is it nearly ready?" He added, this question was innocent enough but Robyn had wished he hadn't asked it, or at least not as loudly as he did...

"Yeah almost!" she cooed back, hoping her father had nothing more to add, she slyly glanced out of the kitchen door-way to check in the living room, Robyn could see her father's recliner perfectly from her spot in the kitchen, as she glanced she saw that her father was still staring at her, she was instantly anxious, her father was _completely_ turned around on his recliner watching her, as he caught her gaze he waved.

"... _Yeah..."_ he sang, mimicking Ben, " _Is it nearly ready?_ " People witnessing this would probably question her father's stability, but Robyn knew he was fine in that regard...He just liked to scare her, to get a bite from her so an argument could ensue. And when he's drunk, or drinking its like he's a child looking for a fight, he won't stop, until he gets a confrontation.

"As I _said,_ " the sass from the first three words of her sentence just dripped from her mouth, "It'll be done soon." She regretted how she answered, her body tensed up as she averted her gaze from her father, she was waiting to hear him stomping towards her, but after a few seconds it seemed he was going to let this one go too, a small amount of comfort blanketed over her as she remembered he ignored the other muck-up she'd had earlier in the day before going out to shopping.

After a while of silence, Robyn began cleaning up before getting ready to serve dinner. "Oi!" Her father shouted, "Feed your dog!" he added, she'd already done this and he knows it...but she just stays quiet. "Hey! Did you hear me!?" She heard him stand up but he wasn't approaching, it was an "alpha" thing, it grossed her out. "And get me another drink while your at it!" he ordered, "No, wait, you can't even do that right, just give me the fucking bottle!"

She looked at him, anger was boiling in her chest, but she swallowed it down as a "yes, Sir" escaped her throat. She grabbed the bottle and headed over to him, she brought a bottle of Coke too, hoping he'd "water" the rum down with it. He snatched the bottles off her, staring at her, following her head with his eyes. He walked eerily close to her, Robyn suspects he may have had drinks prior to tonight as she just smelled of cigarettes and rum, so much so it stung her nose, they were less than a metre apart now. He roughly grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, his eyes, still black and full of hidden anger, she let out an unsteady breath.

He moved the dirty blonde lock that covers her eye out of the way, “Look at me…” He growled, his lip peeled upwards like he was snarling as he studied her face, he traced a scar under her left eye, then looked at his wedding ring that he kept on his hand. Robyn was close to trembling at this point, she didn’t like how close he was to her, he usually resorted to this when she didn’t respond to his taunts in the way he wants.

“…Thankyou, girl,” he said, eyes wild and voice hoarse. Her breath hitched as he moved toward her suddenly, she jumped back out of instinct, his movement seemed to be a fake-out and he began to cackle. “Now hurry up with dinner.” He said through his bouts of laughter. She turned to walk back to the kitchen…again, her eyes welling up.

“Bastard…” she muttered under her breath, the heat boiling in her chest escaped her mouth, with fire in her eyes she continued to dish up dinner, setting the table and pouring glasses of water.

“I heard that,” those were the words she didn’t want to hear… “I heard that, you little cunt!” This time she could hear his footsteps, they were thumping nearly in tune with her heartbeat, she knew what was coming, he’d wanted this since the beginning of the day, he barged straight into the kitchen and grabbed her by the collar of her turtle necked sweater, she didn’t resist, she’d tried that before,

**_‘You take any hit dealt to you like a man! You hear me!?...’_ **

Nearly instantly she was crushed between her father and the fridge, the impact was so hard she could hear the fridge’s content fall from their spots, he smashed his glass against the wall by her head, her heartbeat drowned out the words her father was spouting, nearly instantly she felt a crack against her face, his knuckles hit her mouth as he continued to scream.

He held Robyn up as he hit her again, he finished his assault with a strong strike to her stomach, this caused her to call to her knees, gasping. She sat there for a moment, tears falling from her face, she didn't whine or whimper, she just wept silently, she wiped her nose and eyes and tried to get up, failing. Through her hazy vision she saw Ben peer into the kitchen, Robyn just looked at him, tears trailing down her cheeks, it was like a silent call for help. Max came in and began to lick the salty water from her face. 

"Ben, come and sit," her father called him out of there "No use in standing there, she can deal with it herself." his tone of voice became nonchalant, like what happened, didn't happen. She hauled herself up again, this time, it was successful, she carried the plates to the table, keeping her eyes to the floor, she was shaking now, going through shock. She gave her father his dinner first, followed with Ben, she then went back to get a napkin, she'd noticed her father's hand was bleeding from smashing the glass. She gingerly handed it to him before going to get her own meal.

There was silence for a good 2 minutes, Robyn just looked down and played with her pasta. She had nothing to say to either of them.

"Did you clean the glass?" Her father spoke, breaking the silence, Robyn said nothing, she just got up and went to clean it, she didn't have any strength left to even look at him, she knelt down and cleaned the mess.

"Ben, are you excited for school tomorrow?" it was like he existed in a different world when he spoke to her brother, like she didn't exist. The casualty of the ensuing conversation didn't shock her, she was used to it, but it still hurt, she loved her brother and usually they had a good relationship, but it was like her heart was stabbed whenever he ignored what was happening, the pitiful glances and his vacant expressions _killed_ her inside, making her wonder if he really cared or not. 

She came back to finish her meal, Ben seemed to be done, her father still had nearly a full bowl, she wondered if it tasted bad, she admits her focus wasn't on the spaghetti much... "Thanks Robyn! It was good!" Ben said softly as he walked behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder, he didn't look her in the eye though, it made her want to scream at him.

"No...No worries," She managed to say, her stomach was aching badly after the blow and she didn't know if eating was a good idea, she looked at her meal for a bit longer. 

"Dad can I go and watch T.V?" It was obvious Ben didn't want to spend one more minute in the dense air around the dinner table, her father kept looking at her in-between bites, his eyes always glazed over her with fake compassion, like when you look at someone whose talking even though you don't like them, or care about the words coming out of their mouth. He did it to fill a blank in their non-existent relationship.

"Go ahead, mate," he called, keeping his eyes on Robyn and his food.

"Rob," His voice was calm, she got goose-bumps, she didn't know what was next. "If you are going to say something, don't you _dare_ say it behind my back," His voice was calm but threatening, after saying his piece he gulped down the rest of the drink, he got up to get the bottle of rum and the coke from the living room. 

_If I said that to your face I'd be in hospital..."_ she thought. She felt trapped, nothing she did was right, she wasn't worth anything.

She saw him stroll back in, he was like a detective, the way he walked, it was like he knew everything, he exuded confidence and it scared her. How could someone, who treats his daughter the way he does, have pride? Confidence? How can he look in a mirror? Does he regret? Is he capable of doing so?

Questions filled her head to the brim, she just wanted to know one thing... _why her?_ As far as she could tell, she wasn't a _bad_ kid...

Her internal ranting was cut short by the fizz of the coke bottle opening, she flinched slightly at it. Embarrassment crept into her head as she imagined how pitiful she looked, she heard the glug of liquid and the clang of ice in a glass.

"Here, I cant stand looking at you with your face fucked up like that," He handed her a tea-towel with ice in it, she took it hesitantly and put it to her face, wincing at both the pain and the cold.

 _"_ _You made my face look like this,"_ she thought, a small scoff escaped her lips.

"I wont stand for your attitude girl." he added, thrusting a full glass of rum and coke her way. "Drink it, It'll dis-infect the cut." He said, before walking into the living room, she heard the familiar scruffy noise the leather made when he fell into the chair. 

Robyn pulled the glass to her, she smell of rum was so strong it made her nauseous, the sheer amount of alcohol might make her sleep better tonight. She looked at the drink before taking another bite of her spaghetti. She then began gulping the drink down, the sting of alcohol against her busted lip was almost soothing, it was like a reminder. It burned as it slid down her throat, the taste of iron and spaghetti was washed away, all she could taste was rum...and that was okay.

Once she downed it all she felt the familiar dizziness set in. She grabbed all the bowls, cups and cutlery and went to clean them up. She stumbled a little, she drank it too quick. 

"Leave them there," She heard her father say over the T.V, "Wash them before school." She decided this was a good idea, she hadn't seen her room yet, she didn't have much hope but still, sleeping seemed like a good idea at the time. 

"Goodnight, Robyn," Ben said, waving at her, she glanced at him and reciprocated.

She headed to the stairs, she tried hard not to walk in front of the T.V, she took her first step and heard a negative sounding growl, she turned to her father, he just quietly pointed at her shoes, she nodded, "Sorry," she slid them off and placed them _neatly_ at the step. She then dragged herself up the stairs, she had mental habit of counting the steps, it relaxed her. Once at the top she counted 20 steps, she then went to find her room.

The first room she was met with seemed to be her brothers, space-themed curtains and bed cover, lots of books and posters. _Nope, Next._

The next one was obviously her fathers, a large queen-sized bed with a mahogany frame, cigarettes on the bedside-table, his desk was already set up, she saw a photo of her mother there, she could smell his woody cologne in there, mixed with cigarettes and Rum, she saw an empty bottle on his desk... _So he was drinking before..._ It made sense now. _Nope, Next._

The last one _must_ be hers, she pushed the door open and glanced inside. Blank, that's all she saw, a bare mattress and pillow on the floor, an empty book-shelf and her suit-case haphazardly thrown in, _Yep...that seems 'bout it._

She didn't even bother with making her bed, she just slumped onto the bed and thoughts buzzed through her head, her eyes welled up again as she quietly cried herself to sleep.


	3. Good morning, I'll burn you away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning routines, morning routines, morning routinessss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Used some slang boiss
> 
> Sanga' = Sandwich  
> Sparrow's Fart = Early in the morning (Like, before 5-6AM)  
> Steaky-beak = A Nosey Parker / Someone who can't stay out of people's business

Robyn felt a claw dig into her back, sharply jolting her awake. Her eyes still stinging from crying, she thought maybe the sleep would fix it, but seems not…She glanced behind her at the perpetrator of the rude awakening.

“...Max…” she groaned, twisting her body to give her warm, furry companion a soft pat, he didn’t wake up from the commotion… _good for him_. She pulled the blankets off of her and sat up, she went slowly as the pain in her gut had become immense. She clutched her stomach and made a gruntled growl. “Fuck…”

She moved her legs to the ground, her legs weren’t dangling over a lavish bed as she wished, she slept on a bare mattress on the floor, her father never bought her a bed frame for her mattress. Getting up was going to be the hardest part of the morning besides arriving at school, she mentally prepared herself to stand, holding her stomach with one hand and the empty bookshelf with the other.

As she began to stand, she felt the old familiar sting in her right leg, it didn’t help it was cold. She felt her bones crack as she pulled herself up, a grunt escaped her mouth as she got to her feet, standing up bunched her stomach and caused a large amount of pain.

Seems Max was awake now, he didn’t really move, his warm eyes just followed her movement, the tip of his tail twitching when she looked at him. “Hey Max,” She said in a higher-pitched voice and a smile stretching across her cheeks.

She loved that dog, the two were _soul mates_. She decided to plop the blanket over Max, it was something that was unnecessary, but she figured he’d be more comfortable. She could see a moving lump under the blanket, the sound of it thumping made her laugh. His face usually looked stern, but his body was just a wiggly mess.

She went to the window and opened her curtains, expecting to see a nice morning sun. Turns out Max woke her up at sparrow’s fart, the sky hadn’t had a chance to rub the sleep from its eyes yet. Robyn let out a big sigh, wishing she slept a little longer.

She turned and moved to her suitcase, she rummaged in there for a bit, searching for an outfit she could wear to school, a bit of nervousness seeped into her chest as she bit her lip, suddenly doubting the quality of her _entire_ wardrobe…or suitcase in this matter. She sighed heavily again before just picking out a pair of jeans and her rainbow turtleneck sweater. She grabbed a bra and a pair of undies and headed to the bathroom, Max hot on her trail now.

“You’re a sticky beak,” whispered at him, his tail wagging. She turned into the bathroom which was only down the hall from her room, and began to close the door, “You’re not coming in here sunshine,” she said quietly, she shuddered at the thought of her dog staring at her while she had a shower, “No thank you,” she added as she closed the door on her beloved furry friend.

She watched the shadow under the door for a bit before she heard Max slump to the floor in front of the door. That’s how people knew Robyn was in the shower or the toilet, Max would sit in front of the door, waiting. She smiled at his loyalty; he was always there to make her feel better.

**_‘They live for one purpose, Robyn,’_ **

**_‘What’s that?’_ **

**_‘To make us happy,’_ **

She smiled fondly, remembering her uncle back in Australia, he’s the one that gave Max to her. He was a _good_ man, very different to her father. She missed that part of her family already, she missed Australia, she missed her friends. She scoffed at her father’s statement.

**_‘It’ll be a new start, I’ll change, we’ll change, there will be no more of…this.’_ **

He’s already gone against these words, on the _first day…_ She was honestly scared of what was to come in the future.

She shed her clothing off, the cool air hitting her, a soft shiver reverberated through her as she removed the last of her clothing. She glanced at her reflection, her eyes fell blank as she focused on the red and purple bruising on her stomach, it seemed to pulsate as she drew breath, it was disgusting, it looked like it was trying to _move_ under her skin like a parasite. Her teeth clenched as she ran her fingers over the raised bruise, breath hitching at the pain.

She decided to stop looking at it and slowly raised her view to her face, her lip was purple but not too swollen, the cut on her lip was _painfully_ obvious, the red and purple bruise that sprawled from her cheek to her nose was also obvious.

“How am I going to hide these ones…” she muttered, tracing the pattern of the bruising, yet another sigh fell from her lips. Her sigh flipped her parted fringe into the air a little, there was a little bit of blood in the tips of her dirty blonde hair, she shook her head at herself before turning to the shower.

She stepped in and closed the glass door. She heard a heavy sigh from the door, Max was a sigher too.

She wanted to wash last night away, the thought of him looking at her got her blood to boil, him giving her the ice and the drink to ‘help’ made her even more livid, “how dare he?” She thought, her breathing had become nasal and she turned the hot water nob. She turned the cold on slightly as the steaming water stung her body.

She wanted it to melt her away, to burn his touch from her, he was disgusting, and she needed to sterilise her body of him. Her head was filling with anger as tears began to well again, she grunted loudly as she held them back, punching the tiled wall beside her.

_Her body was burning, the water etched itself down her body, Scalding everything in its wake, she didn’t fear it anymore, the pain…The burn, she welcomed it as it covered something even more torturous._

Her head was filled with feelings, but she refused to cry today, after washing everything away she turned the hot water off completely, letting the small amount of icy water douse her. She shivered at the intense change in temperature, but she didn’t step out. Her hair began to look like caramel falling from her head as she washed the suds from it. She stood there for a little while, just thinking.

With a steady breath she straightened up and turned off the water. She stepped out, the room filled with steam, she glanced at the mirror but thankfully it was completely covered in condensation, she couldn’t see the monstrous bruises. She wiped herself down with her towel and looked at her hands, _pink_ her whole body was pink and tingling, she realised she shouldn’t have been in the hot water for that long.

She heard walking down the hall, knowing it wasn’t Ben, she held her breath waiting for the steps to pass the door, they stopped instead, she could see his feet under the door, they just stood there, she didn’t know why…Maybe he was patting Max.

“Mornin’ Rob, cover those bruises up, don’t want to be suspicious on your first day…” hangover dripped from his voice, he sounded like hell.

“Yes, Sir,” She answered softly, her teeth clenched and her upper lip quivering, she began dressing herself as she heard his footsteps pass. Slipping on the rainbow sweater then tucking it into her jeans, she then put her locket back on and rolled her jeans up a little. She grabbed a dry towel from the drawer and wrapped it around her hair. She then left he bathroom, greeting Max again.

She swiftly snuck into her room and began attacking her hair with the towel, this process wasn’t gentle, in fact she was never good to her hair, the reason it was cut just above her shoulders is because she got it burned when fixing a car in Australia, in reality, she didn’t fix it…she made it worse…it blew up.

Once her hair was some-what dry, she dug in her suitcase again for her make-up, the only reason she owned it was to cover up bruises, she was never a make-up kind of girl. But over time… _years_ , she’s learned how to use it well enough. She spread the foundation along her bruises, blending it in with her skin, she didn’t want to put foundation _all over_ her face, she just used the ‘Spot treatment’ technique.

While glancing in the small circular mirror she saw his face staring back at her. She stopped everything and turned around, he was gone…There were times when she was unsure if what she sees is real or just in her head, _her father was awake, but how did he disappear so fast?_

She didn’t delve too much into it and continued on with the ‘cover-up’ there was no way she could fix her lip though; she began thinking of excuses. It was her first day, she was Australian and a girl, she was going to get stared at, so she’d better have an answer for the inevitable question…‘What happened to your lip?’

She groaned; walked into a door is so over-used it hurt, so was falling down the stairs, getting hit by a car door was also bad…she didn’t know what to do, what was believable? What didn’t sound like a battered house-wife’s excuse?

She glanced at max, her shoulders suddenly straightened as she got an idea, “Sorry mate,” she said to him, scratching him behind the ears. “A dog scratch is believable! And he does have habit of jumping into mid air when greeting me.” She thought, a wave of genius hit her, a smile spread across her face and she giggled into her hand.

The sun finally decided to come out now and she was pretty much ready to go. But, she still needed to finish last-night’s chores, she quickly went down the stairs to get started on the dishes. As she entered, she saw her father at the counter, making coffee.

“So, he can do it?” she thinks to herself she gets to the sink and begins herding all the dirty plates to the sink. Her father turned to her and looked at her face.

"Show me," he said, Robyn turned her face toward him, instead of looking into his eyes, she focused on the mole under his eye, he stretched his hand out and grabbed her chin, it was a gentler grab than the last, but still uncomfortable. "Good," he said, letting her go and walking out of the kitchen with his pot of coffee. 

She filled the sink with pure hot water, scrubbing the dishes vacantly. _Your mind escapes you when doing mundane tasks..._ and her mind was elsewhere right now, she couldn't feel the hot water eating away at her hands.   
_BAM! BAM!  
_ Each time a plate clanged she imagined her fist meeting his skin, the stickiness of the warm liquid seeping out of his nose, the sound of his whimpers, they filled her with something, a feeling she couldn't explain. It was sad, but it was relieving. The feeling frightened her. It reminded her of primary school, of all the kids that avoided her, all the teachers and stared at her like she was diseased...

**_'You are a little monster, Miss King..."_ **

The plate slipped from her hand, falling into the water, the harsh sound woke her from her state, "Be careful, damnit!" she heard her father yell. She grabbed the plate and checked it for any cracks, all seemed fine, _Thank God..._

She cleaned up the last few pieces before letting the water drain out. She then quickly began making sandwiches for Ben and her Father, Lettuce, ham, cheese, sauce, tomato...she made a good sanga. After their lunches were made, she cleaned the table and bench tops and she was done.

She brought a cup over to the living room and filled it with coffee, she then sat at the farthest chair from her father and quietly watched the T.V, sipping her hot coffee periodically. She hoped time would fly quickly and that Ben would wake up soon…


End file.
